Targeted gene modification in mouse ES cells using integrase-defective lentiviral vectors.

Lentiviral vectors efficiently integrate into the host genome of both dividing and nondividing cells, and so they have been used for stable transgene expression in biological and biomedical studies. However, recent studies have highlighted the risk of insertional mutagenesis and subsequent oncogenesis. Here, we used an integrase-defective lentiviral (IDLV) vector to decrease the chance of random integration and examined the feasibility of lentiviral vector-mediated gene targeting into murine embryonic stem (ES) cells.

Complementation of placental defects and embryonic lethality by trophoblast-specific lentiviral gene transfer.

Placental dysfunction underlies many complications during pregnancy, and better understanding of gene function during placentation could have considerable clinical relevance. However, the lack of a facile method for placenta-specific gene manipulation has hampered investigation of placental organogenesis and the treatment of placental dysfunction. We showed previously that transduction of fertilized mouse eggs with lentiviral vectors leads to transgene expression in both the fetus and the placenta.